Experience Summary
As a former graduate student, I have learned how to read fiction and especially nonfiction critically for meaning; as a writer of research papers, I have learned how to craft informative, evocative, and engaging works of professional quality. I have spent the past three years sharing this experience with my fellow students at Naropa University in Boulder, CO, where I worked as a tutor in the Writing Center. While I was there, I also had the opportunity to TA an undergraduate writing course for a semester and then teach that same course for two semesters; therefore, I am especially qualified to tutor high school and college students in subjects related to reading and writing.
Teaching Style
I believe that the most important thing you can do for a student is to empower him or her to believe in him- or herself. My approach, especially with writing, is to encourage the student's own self-expression through active questioning and dialogue about the subject matter, while also imparting the fundamental rules and how they work. I think it is important to help students view writing--and any other subject for that matter--not as an arbitrary structure that is being imposed on them, but as the parameters of a playground in which they can ultimately have fun and enjoy themselves.